Greek War of Independence

Greek War of Independence
Part of the Revolutions during the 1820s

Top left: The camp at Phaliro. Top right: The burning of an Ottoman frigate by a Greek fire ship. Bottom right: The Battle of Navarino. Bottom left: Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt at the Third Siege of Missolonghi.
Date21 February 1821 – 12 September 1829[2]
(8 years, 6 months and 3 weeks)
Location
Ottoman Greece (present-day Greece)
Result

Greek victory:

Territorial
changes
  • The Peloponnese, Saronic Islands, Cyclades, Sporades and Continental Greece ceded to the independent Greek state
  • Crete ceded to Egypt
  • Belligerents

    Greek Revolutionaries

    After 1822:
    Military support:
    Diplomatic support:

     Ottoman Empire

    Commanders and leaders
    Philhellenes: European support: Egyptian support: Algerian support:
    Casualties and losses
    240,000+ total casualties
    a 1821
    b From 1826
    c Haiti was the first nation to recognize the independence of Greece.

    The Greek War of Independence,[a] also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829.[3] In 1826, the Greeks were assisted by the British Empire, Kingdom of France, and the Russian Empire, while the Ottomans were aided by their North African vassals, particularly the eyalet of Egypt. The war led to the formation of modern Greece, which would be expanded to its modern size in later years. The revolution is celebrated by Greeks around the world as independence day on 25 March every year.

    All Greek territory, except the Ionian Islands, the Mani Peninsula and some mountainous regions in Epirus came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century, in the decades surrounding the Fall of Constantinople.[4] During the following centuries, there were many Greek uprisings against Ottoman rule. Most of these uprisings began in the independent Greek realm of the Mani Peninsula which was never conquered by the Ottomans, with the largest war culminating in 1770 during the Orlov Revolt.[5] In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria (Society of Friends) was founded with the aim of liberating Greece, encouraged by revolution, which was common in Europe at the time. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities and Constantinople. The insurrection was planned for 25 March 1821 (in the Julian Calendar), the Orthodox Christian Feast of the Annunciation. However, the plans of the Filiki Eteria were discovered by the Ottoman authorities, forcing the revolution to start earlier. The first revolt began on 21 February 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. These events urged Greeks in the Peloponnese (Morea) into action and on 17 March 1821, the Maniots were first to declare war. In September 1821, the Greeks, under the leadership of Theodoros Kolokotronis, captured Tripolitsa. Revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece broke out, but were eventually suppressed. Meanwhile, makeshift Greek fleets achieved success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea.

    Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. The Ottoman Sultan called in Muhammad Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son, Ibrahim Pasha, to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gains. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and brought most of the peninsula under Egyptian control by the end of that year. The town of Missolonghi fell in April 1826 after a year-long siege by the Turks. Despite a failed invasion of Mani, Athens also fell and revolutionary morale decreased.

    At that point, the three great powers—Russia, Britain, and France—decided to intervene, sending their naval squadrons to Greece in 1827. Following news that the combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleet was going to attack the island of Hydra, the allied European fleets intercepted the Ottoman navy at Navarino. After a tense week-long standoff, the Battle of Navarino led to the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet and turned the tide in favor of the revolutionaries. In 1828, the Egyptian army withdrew under pressure from a French expeditionary force. The Ottoman garrisons in the Peloponnese surrendered and the Greek revolutionaries proceeded to retake central Greece. The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia allowing for the Russian army to move into the Balkans, near Constantinople. This forced the Ottomans to accept Greek autonomy in the Treaty of Adrianople and semi-autonomy for Serbia and the Romanian principalities.[6] After nine years of war, Greece was finally recognized as an independent state under the London Protocol of February 1830. Further negotiations in 1832 led to the London Conference and the Treaty of Constantinople, which defined the final borders of the new state and established Prince Otto of Bavaria as the first king of Greece.

    1. ^ Sakalis, Alex (25 March 2021). "The Italians Who Fought for Greek Independence". Italics Magazine. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
    2. ^ Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.
    3. ^ "War of Greek Independence | History, Facts, & Combatants". See also: Cartledge, Yianni; Varnava, Andrekos, eds. (2022). Yianni Cartledge & Andrekos Varnava (eds.), New Perspectives on the Greek War of Independence: Myths, Realities, Legacies and Reflections, Palgrave Macmillan/Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-10849-5. ISBN 978-3031108488. S2CID 253805406.
    4. ^ Finkel, Caroline (2007). Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. Basic Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-0465008506.
    5. ^ Woodhouse, A Story of Modern Greece, 'The Dark Age of Greece (1453–1800)', p. 113, Faber and Faber (1968)
    6. ^ Bushkovitch, Paul (2012). A concise history of Russia. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0521543231.


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